John Matze, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Parler, thinks big tech companies are giving preferential treatment to fellow social networking platforms Facebook and Twitter.
In an interview with the Epoch Times' "Crossroads" program, Matze said that Parler is being held to a different standard and called it wrong.
Parler, which has a large following of conservative-leaning users, was removed by the Amazon Web Services (AWS) from its servers before midnight on Sunday, Jan. 10. It was earlier removed by Apple and Google from their app stores. The big tech companies claimed that Parler wasn't properly moderating its platform.
Matze admitted there were "a few cases" of people trying to incite violence on Parler, but noted that posts encouraging violence can also be seen on Twitter and Facebook.
"Abruptly terminating us with what I would call bad faith, and doing it so quickly, that there's no possible way to remedy and doing it in a way so publicly that it tarnishes our brand, and it doesn't allow us to get anywhere else – they maliciously did this all at the same time, to ruin our reputation and destroy our business," Matze lamented.
He also disputed claims that Parler was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
"Every online social media company had violent content concerning that event on that day, including Parler, but (also) including Facebook, including Twitter, including everybody," he said. "I don't think it was too different than Facebook or Twitter, you know, the amount of content on there is crazy. And these companies gave them preferential treatment over us." (Related: Twitter bans QAnon accounts while allowing terrorists and pedophiles on their platform.)
Big tech companies maintain claims of Parler’s moderation issues
AWS on Tuesday, Jan. 12, responded to Parler's lawsuit and brought proof detailing its repeated efforts to make Parler address the explicit threats of violence posted on the site. Parler sued AWS on Monday, Jan. 11, just hours after it went offline.
The AWS court filing said Parler showed an "unwillingness and inability to remove from the servers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) content that threatens the public safety, such as by inciting and planning the rape, torture and assassination of named public officials and private citizens."
It also stated that "AWS suspended Parler's account as a last resort to prevent further access to such content, including plans for violence to disrupt the impending presidential transition."
Meanwhile, Apple CEO Tim Cook told "CBS This Morning" that he thinks Parler has some issues with moderation. "There are some incitement-of-violence examples on there," he said. "They need to step it up on moderation, and our hope is that they get back on the store."
Google, on the other hand, said in a statement that it was "aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S."
While Parler is trying to compel Amazon to take back the company, it is also in contact with other web hosting companies. It has registered with Epik this week, but no formal deal has been made.
Epik, a domain registrar and web hosting company, issued a statement on Thursday, Jan. 14, that it has been in discussions with several executive team members from Parler. It also denounced the move made by the big tech companies against Parler.
"While we cannot predict what will happen to Parler, we can confirm that the examples utilized to marginalize and ultimately de-platform their active base of millions of users in no way reflect the values of the owners, investors, engineers, community, of the hundreds of moderators that worked tirelessly to serve the people and user base that they loved," Robert Davis, an Epik senior vice president, said in a statement.
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